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As Biden's "Ironclad" Promise Weakens, So Does Israel's Security
(The Hill) Nadav Pollak - Israelis woke up recently to the headline: "President Biden: If Israel's goes into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons." Many Israelis, including me, felt fear about what this might mean for Israel's security. For many of us, President Biden removed our last leverage point over Hamas and damaged our deterrence vis-a-vis our enemies. It's been only seven months since Hamas attacked us, committing unspeakable atrocities and massacring our loved ones. A day after Hamas attacked, Hizbullah began targeting Israeli communities in the north, forcing Israel to evacuate 60,000 civilians. An American president trying to force Israel to accept U.S. terms, especially when we are being attacked, is something many Israelis disapprove of. The concern many Israelis are feeling is that this will damage Israel's deterrence of other regional enemies, namely Hizbullah and Iran, who are watching recent tensions between Israel and the U.S. closely and gleefully. All this is not to say that Israelis don't appreciate what Biden has done for us. He came to Israel a few weeks after Oct. 7 with a single message: "You are not alone." He stood by Israel for months, even when he was getting strong pushback at home and from other countries. But this recent move will strengthen Hamas' stubbornness and invite more attacks against Israel from other fronts. The writer is a lecturer on Middle East affairs at Reichman University and a former research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.